Still cookin'!

It's been a fun and eventful early summer here at 54 Ridgeway. We've had many guests, lots of project support, and plenty of sunshine.  As you may know, May is turkey season here, in central New York.  As usual, I said I wasn't going to go this year.  Too early.  Don't want ticks.  Not a huge fan of killing anything, even though I love to grill it.  Then, May first came around, I bought my hunting license, and dug out the camo.

Also, as usual, I did not shoot a turkey.  On a particularly annoying morning Tony and I sat under the tree the turkeys were roosted in.  Getting close to the turkeys is good.  Getting that close to the turkeys is bad.  Anyway, we had fun, got to see many sunrises, saw some cool activity and animals that the majority of people never experience, and I didn't have to deal with my guilt.

Our friends Sam and Heather are expecting a child and hosted a baby shower, so we went back to the sewing machine.  I managed to stitch a few scraps together into shapes that resembled burp clothes without too much blood loss.  Sarah made a beautiful blanket.

Dude got a new grill!  On Memorial Day weekend, we took advantage of a sale and picked up a new, old school Weber charcoal grill.  Although it takes a little longer, I am really enjoying the ritual of grilling over charcoal.

And there's nothing like making some charcoal of your own.

We don't eat burgers too often, but we couldn't help christening the grill with the traditional meal.  I made some macaroni salad to go with it and drank a little Mexican style beer.

We set up the slack line for the first time this year.  Zach and Kristin and the girls had a great time on it.  Zach had so much fun that he went out and bought one for himself.

I got a new hat for the summer.  Keep searching for that perfect piece of head gear.  What I'm really looking for is a great lifeguard style straw hat made in the US, but this will have to do for now.

We have a nice tradition of hanging out at Zhora's house every couple of weekends.  Bob does a great job on the grill, and I'm taking notes.  Watching Zhora and her friends run around and scream in the hose reminded me of the great summers of childhood.

Mom and Dad H came out last weekend and worked like champs.  Between them and Veneta we feel like we are in pretty good shape.  It was lovely to get to visit with everyone and we enjoyed pretty low key fun... hiking, chatting, grilling, painting, and walking the dogs.

Everyone relaxed after a long day of working and hiking and chatting.

Grandma Cressman sent a dock box, which was expected and exciting as well as the collapsible picnic table from Fox Haven, which was unexpected and very handy.  We look forward to getting lots of use out of it.  Thanks Grandma!

We got a new camera and I've been playing around with it a bit.  Sarah watered the garden this morning.  We've been lucky with the garden so far this season and have put in some extra work to protect it from chipmunks and moths and the like.

This afternoon, we went over to Erik's and hung out at the river.  It was wonderful!  We watched the kids play and chatted and waded in the river.

This is Zach and Kristin's daughter, Nora.

The moon tonight, and the swamp.  It's been a nice weekend so far.  Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Just some filler

Not too much news. Just been keepin on keepin on, lately. Cleaning, gardening, biking and hunting. 

Sebastian's new ride! Note the home brewers bumper sticker... Priceless. 

My eternal supervisor. 

My rides. 

Our dandelion farm.

The kid is going to sleep in this room?!

Climbing trees somewhat safely. 

Then this fell off. 

Chaperoning the junior prom. 

Drove past this guy riding his bike in long underwear and black socks, then past a park full of "adults" hitting each other with Nerf swords. Gotta love Ithaca. 

In a similar vein, we attended an event the other day in a small space with a loud band and a bunch of extroverts who wanted to talk. As we were walking up, I heard the singer ask, "so, who likes kale?!... Awesome! We're going to sing our kale song!"  Then he turned to his band and said, "Don't be afraid to jam out for a bit here at the beginning. This group will totally dig it!"  Everything after that is a blur. 

To Ohio and Back...

We had a lovely trip to Ohio this past weekend.  In addition to a lovely baby shower filled with friends, family, and sewing machines, we had lots of unscheduled time to just hang out with our folks.

There were lots of laughs.  This was one of them.  Eva fussed and pushed and tossed the pillows and blankets on this chair for a good two minutes, only to settle for this uncomfortable  looking position.  I'm convinced she just tried to make it look comfortable to save face.

The moms and aunts did an fantastic job putting together an meaningful and entertaining celebration for Chopper and us.  We had five or six sewing machines set up and a bunch of fabric and patterns and instructions set out.  It looked a little like a sweat shop, but everyone seemed to have good time.  (I think Walmart makes that same argument) It was exactly what we hoped; people chatted and helped one another and made fun little things that we will use and remember them by in the near future.  We'll tell Chopper about what great family he has!

One of our most animated helpers!

Andy made a really cool neckerchief with plaid on one side and cowboys on the other; he is quite the seamster (I assume that's the masculine version of that word).  Gail made a cute one with whales on it.

In the end, we received 8 handmade bib/kerchiefs, 6 burp cloths, and 1 pair of diaper covers.  A friend of Veneta made us the little hat you see in the picture!  My favorite part of the whole day was watching people help one another and work together.  Seeing first time sewers create something functional from raw fabric was very gratifying, while some of the experienced sewers created works of art with their accuracy and precision.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone involved!

Special thanks for set up, sewing machines, expertise, fabrics, etc., etc., go to Mom B and Mom H, Becky, Maribeth, and Denise!  Thank you all so much!  We had a great time!  Thanks to Alyssa and Jared for dish washing, on-site support, and transportation.

As reported in previous posts, I have been manic about mountain biking lately.  Fortunately, by design, Ian's bike is in Medina, so I had something to ride.  And in the last 15 years, a place TO ride has been developed in Huffman and Reagan Parks.  The bypasses and bridges were really fun.

In addition to the jumps and bridges and switchbacks, it was quite a wilderness ride.  A herd of deer showed up repeatedly on my ride, several red squirrels crossed the trail, a pair of banded king fishers chattered from a branch, and a pileated woodpecker raced me through the trees.  Not bad for an urban park.

We had such warm, beautiful spring weather up until the last day... then the front rolled in.  Mom and Dad H, Mom B, Zhora, and Sarah and I met at On Tap for dinner.  The food and beer were good.  The company and conversation were great.  The wind was a little much.  That night, we snuggled in and listened to the wind blow and the lightening and thunder crash.

By the time we got home on Tuesday, we needed a fire in the stove.  Ridiculous.

This morning, I got up and headed to the arboretum.  I am mentoring Jasper as he completes his independent study for his senior English class.  His project is to climb trees.  You can check out his blog here if you want.  We met with the head arborist at Cornell University for a lesson on single and double rope climbing, knots, and limb walking.

It was a pretty cool morning.

A little practice

Last weekend, or the weekend before (honestly, who can keep track), Margaret and Sarah got together to sew.  Margaret brought Sebastian and Zhora was there, too, for some reason.  Anyway, after Zach and I got back from our bike ride (see preceding post), I took the kids outside so that the ladies could focus.  We had a lovely morning!

After we explored the yard and found some magic wands to make the flowers grow faster and climbed some trees to look for birds, we went into the woods outside the fence to look for paths.  We found a path that led to a river with a waterfall and to a fallen down tree that was fun to climb on and also a treasure.  Then we learned the phrase widow-maker, and got out of that area and talked about how much wind it might take to bring the widow-maker down.

Then it was time to throw some rocks.

First we threw rocks that we found near the swimming hole. 

But I knew a spot where we could get bigger rocks, so we took a little walk!

We threw some more small rocks on our way.

And some more.

Then we found the really big rocks to throw.  There were so many that we wanted to throw that it was hard to carry them all!  We worked together and got them back and threw some big ones and made some great splashes and kerplunks.

Of course we had to wash our feet off in the river!  The water was cool and clear.

At home, Sarah and Margaret had finished their blankets and it was time to bring in the laundry.

Then it was off to Jenn and Bob's to spot some turnkeys, tell some stories, and eat some good grilled food.  What a great way to spend a Sunday!